Femtosecond laser inscription of polarized-sensitive volume phase grating in nanoporous glass

With the growth of laser technologies in photonics, the application of ultrashort laser becomes promising and prospective for volume phase elements fabrication in transparent materials. Femtosecond laser writing (FLW) was applied for polarized-sensitive volume phase gratings (VPGs) inscription in a nanoporous silicate matrix (NPSM). The VPGs formed had the thickness L = 54 ± 0.5 μm and 77 ± 0.5 μm, and showed diffraction efficiency of 8% and 14% respectively. VPGs in an NPSM demonstrated polarization sensitivity resulting in different diffraction efficiencies from 2 to 14%. Moreover, the impregnation of the NPSM plate with distilled water, 50% acetone and 10% acetone was investigated. The achieved results provide evidence for a possibility of a VPG in NPSM to be applied as a sensor.